Dele Alli at Everton

[Haddock]

Yeah I agree with the sentiment. Dele seems to slow down our attack whenever he's on the ball. Also these totally unnecessary flicks and tricks are infuriating. It's like he rather waits 2-3 seconds to release the ball so that he can do a dragback or a ball roll.

I can't remember him being this slow and ponderous in his first two seasons with us? I do believe he saw less of the ball back then. He was more or less playing of Kane and he did what he's best at: making smart runs in the box.

Dele really excells at this one thing. But if he's not doing this one thing he's just quite mediocre. I've always liked Dele and I hope he can get back to his best football. To his defence he's made something like 4 goals and 6 assists since Mourinho took over. That's not bad at all, quite the contrary. But his overall play must improve.

At this point I feel like Dele wants to be another type of footballer than he actually is.

 

[spursfan77]

I think he's in a fight with Lamela for that no10 role which will be good for him, some competition at least....until Lamela gets injured

He’s needed that for ages. Like a lot of players at our club they got too fucking comfortable in the last couple of years. I think he’s had what was good about his game also beaten out of him by the media (he’s dirty, he’s a hot head etc), his injuries and his confidence.

Yesterday I saw a player who was the only attacker actually not standing still but moving around to find space or receive the ball. The others were so static. He saved a certain goal with his challenge of a West Ham player at a corner and was unselfish in possession.

What he needs to do is think less and get back to being that player with raw energy and unpredictability. He hasn’t played for months and has had issues off the pitch to deal with. All things that effect performance.

 

[GutBucket]

I think he's in a fight with Lamela for that no10 role which will be good for him, some competition at least....until Lamela gets injured

There is also Ndom...Never mind.

 

[Japhet]

I’d sell while there’s still a perception that he’s a good player. I haven’t been impressed with him for a long time

Me too, but only if we could get enough to sort out a couple of other areas. I fully expect him to do something incredible next game now that I've said that. He usually does when I get frustrated with him.

 

[kendoddsdadsdogsdead]

I don’t think anyone would pay anywhere near the money we would sell for unfortunately. We should definitely start putting the feelers out though just can’t see what clubs would come in for him.

 

[wrd]

I think he's in a fight with Lamela for that no10 role which will be good for him, some competition at least....until Lamela gets injured

I certainly prefer Lamela and his endeavour in the big matches, incredible off the ball work rate and Dele is no slouch either which only highlights just how good Lamela is at it.

 

[bubble07]

He was poor again but looked better when he went out to the left and son played through the middle

 

[brendanb50]

These early games after the break are hard to judge on. I agree Dele looked a bit off the pace but i think that's to be expected.

Lets face it, he's not going anywhere this summer so we should hopefully see a much sharper player next year, then we can judge a bit more accurately IMHO.

Agree with some points here though, Lamela is definitely vying for that number 10 role, some competition will help with Dele's focus.

For my money he's still a top player and offers movement few others can. He's capable of making an impact in big games but i agree with the sentiments that he's not looking sharp at the moment and hasn't for a much of this season.

 

[Deleted member 27995]

I still love Dele the player, his game is going to have to evolve though. He struggled at times last night, Coco coming on highlighted this fact even more.

 

[SUIYHA]

I’d sell while there’s still a perception that he’s a good player. I haven’t been impressed with him for a long time

Sad thing is - I think that perception has fallen fast. He hasn't been called up to England for a year, and whilst he looked like his old self again when Mourinho first took over, last night was as bad as ever. If we were to give up on him and try and cash in then I can't see any rich teams making significant bids for him. Well maybe Newcastle if this Saudi takeover happens. We'd have easily got £70-80m for him in 2017, I don't see anyone paying half of that now.

I think a big problem that he's faced in the last couple of seasons is an identity crisis of where he is trying to play. He's made plenty of assists in his time but I wouldn't call him a typical "playmaker". If you look at the successful Mourinho sides of the past, they have always had a real creative attacking midfielder - Deco at Porto, Lampard and Gudjohnsen at Chelsea, Sneijder at Inter, Ozil at Madrid, then Oscar and Fabregas at Chelsea again. Alli doesn't fit into this category - you could never imagine him dropping deeper later in his career using his passing skills and vision to dictate the play from further back. He has thrived when played in a more advanced role - particularly alongside Kane when the two of them draw defenders away from one another, however that system that worked best relied on having this type of playmaker in the side - Eriksen. With him gone, Alli has badly struggled.

There's clearly a talented player in there somewhere - and the guy has only just turned 24, but at the moment I don't see where he fits into the side tactically as he slows the play down too much when we counter attack and doesn't seem to be getting the goals or assists that a player in his position should be getting to justify selection. We looked much better when Lamela came on yesterday.

Read some of the replies to this - https://www.spurscommunity.co.uk/in...g-about-us-17-18.125680/page-141#post-5326335 - makes such a stark contrast to now. Ironically, the manager that was criticised for not getting the best out of Pogba was of course, Mourinho.

 

[ILS]

Sad thing is - I think that perception has fallen fast. He hasn't been called up to England for a year, and whilst he looked like his old self again when Mourinho first took over, last night was as bad as ever. If we were to give up on him and try and cash in then I can't see any rich teams making significant bids for him. Well maybe Newcastle if this Saudi takeover happens. We'd have easily got £70-80m for him in 2017, I don't see anyone paying half of that now.

I think a big problem that he's faced in the last couple of seasons is an identity crisis of where he is trying to play. He's made plenty of assists in his time but I wouldn't call him a typical "playmaker". If you look at the successful Mourinho sides of the past, they have always had a real creative attacking midfielder - Deco at Porto, Lampard and Gudjohnsen at Chelsea, Sneijder at Inter, Ozil at Madrid, then Oscar and Fabregas at Chelsea again. Alli doesn't fit into this category - you could never imagine him dropping deeper later in his career using his passing skills and vision to dictate the play from further back. He has thrived when played in a more advanced role - particularly alongside Kane when the two of them draw defenders away from one another, however that system that worked best relied on having this type of playmaker in the side - Eriksen. With him gone, Alli has badly struggled.

There's clearly a talented player in there somewhere - and the guy has only just turned 24, but at the moment I don't see where he fits into the side tactically as he slows the play down too much when we counter attack and doesn't seem to be getting the goals or assists that a player in his position should be getting to justify selection. We looked much better when Lamela came on yesterday.

Read some of the replies to this - https://www.spurscommunity.co.uk/in...g-about-us-17-18.125680/page-141#post-5326335 - makes such a stark contrast to now. Ironically, the manager that was criticised for not getting the best out of Pogba was of course, Mourinho.

All that link highlights is SpursDave88 knows nothing about football.

 

[Spursmatty87]

Thought he did ok worked hard just looked rusty. Thought son played worse than him.

 

[daryl hannah]

I don’t think anyone would pay anywhere near the money we would sell for unfortunately. We should definitely start putting the feelers out though just can’t see what clubs would come in for him.

I agree I think if he can't evolve his game suitably it may be time to start thinking about succession planning. Possibly the only taker would be Poch - wherever he ends up...

However, let's see.

 

[Cochise]

I thought he grew as the game went on. We changed things about and he started getting on the ball in wider positions, rotating with Son and making some decent runs.

I'm inclined to give him this one given that it was his first start since the break and how I wanted to sell Lamela after the UTD game (yet he was good tonight). However, his stock is falling fast and he really needs to find a way to consitently affect games.

 

[rio bryan]

Just not creative enough to play in the attacking 3 behind Kane, can forgive the lack of creativity if he is constantly getting into the box and scoring goals like a few seasons ago but he isn't. Playing wide he can't go past players, playing as a 10 he can't run the game like Eriksen.

 

[buckley]

For me Moura is the weakness I thought once he went off and Lamela came on we had complete domination .
It seems that every manager has his favs but it is odd that Jose's blind spot is Moura who he seems to rate and is almost the exact opposite of the player he likes to generally use really really odd.

 

[Spartanspurs]

I honestly don't understand the comments here. I thought he look decent, slightly off the pace but both Kane and Son looked even more off the pace. He popped up in the right places, just a fraction too slow in some situations but this is all very understandable given the circumstances.

 

[coy-spurs1882]

ineffective with his current "role", imo his best role is playing like a shadow striker behind kane. he is not a playmaker like eriksen

 

[Phil_2.0]

If Dele was put up for sale what type of clubs do you think would be interested?

 

[Timberwolf]

If Dele was put up for sale what type of clubs do you think would be interested?

I honestly can't think of anyone. Certainly not at the kind of pricetag we'd want to sell him for.

I think there's a reason he never gets linked to other clubs tbh...

Personally I think he needs to get properly dropped. Not just for a game or two, either. He needs to realise that, for the first time in his Spurs career, he doesn't have a divine right to start, and he needs to seriously examine his weaknesses and work on them.

Maybe I'm off the mark, but you compare someone like Kane who is obsessed with being the best and improving his game, to someone like Dele, who seems to be almost as focused on his branding as he does on his football. The difference is stark.

Maybe he's brilliant in training and works hard, but it's hard to see any evidence of it on the pitch when he has barely improved in 4 years.